SAT Vocabulary for Juniors

Lesson 7

# 1 Adroit: adj. skillful; cleversyn: dexterous; apt / ant: clumsy; awkward

On the court, the adroit tennis player made even the most difficult moves look

easy.

“Nothing is more adroit than irreproachable conduct”-Madame de Maintenon

#2 Macroscopic: adj. visible to the naked eyeant: microscopic

Professors think they have a macroscopic understanding of

economics, but most people live day-to-day.

More people would become germaphobes if germs were macroscopic.

#3 Fatuous: adj. foolish; inanesyn: silly / ant: sensible; wise

Fatuous answers to serious questions earned Archie seriously poor grades.

“Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers, and are fatuous preservers of youthful looks”-Charles Dickens

#4 Bovine: adj. pertaining to cows or cattle

The crowd moved with a kind of bovine slowness, ambling across the road and

blocking traffic.

“The cow is of the bovine ilk; One end is moo, the other, milk.”-Ogden Nash

#5 Ferret: v. to search or drive out

Jerry dug into the haystack and ferreted out a needle.

“ ‘No, I only ferret out things that may be of some use to me,’ was the unexpected reply, uttered with an air of perfect vacancy and swallowed by Mr. Blunt in blank silence.”-Joseph Conrad, The Arrow of Gold

#6 Affectation: n. a phony attitude; posesyn: insincerity; sham / ant: sincerity; genuineness

The fashion police saw through Marilyn’s affectation of high-style elegance.

“Cowardice and courage are never without a measure of affectation. Nor is love. Feelings are never true. They play with their mirrors.”-Jean Baudrillard

#7 Knell: n. a sound made by a bell, often rung slowly for a death or funeral

Senators sounded the death knell for the amendment when they voted against it.

“Each maitin bell, the Baron saith, knells us back to a world of death”-Samuel Taylor Coleridge

#8 Dichotomy: n. a division into two parts

A dichotomy in interpretations of law caused the judges to render a split decision.

“Never permit a dichotomy to rule your life, a dichotomy in which you hate what you do so you can have pleasure in your spare time. Look for a situation in which your work will give you as much happiness as your spare time.”-Pablo Picasso

#9 Callow: adj. young and inexperiencedsyn: immature / ant: mature; sophisticated

The superintendent mistakenly entrusted the care of the dog to callow and

mischievous youths.

“It is only the young and callow and ignorant that admire rashness. Think before you speak. Know your subject.”-Cass Gilbert

#10 Laconic: adj. using few words; short; concisesyn: pithy; taciturn / ant: verbose; loquacious

Deputies asked the laconic sheriff if he knew the way home, and he just said “Yep.”

“You can get far in North America with laconic grunts. "Huh," "hun," and "hi!" in their various modulations, together with "sure," "guess so," "that so?" and "nuts!" will meet almost any contingency.”-Ian Fleming

#11 Quiddity: n. an essential qualitysyn: essence

Kristina skipped the fluff and penetrated to the quiddity of the argument.

The renovators wanted to retain the quiddity of the house as they rebuilt it, making sure not to tear down the entire structure,

#12 Patent: adj. evident or obvioussyn: indisputable; apparent

Reporters were looking for thorough answers, but the caretaker just gave

them patent retorts.

“No political party has exclusive patent rights on prosperity.”-Franklin D. Roosevelt

#13 Peccadillo: n. a minor offense; a misdeed

Rosalyn knew how to keep her excusable peccadilloes in the right perspective.

Many kids in grade school worry too much about their peccadilloes.

#14 Sagacious: adj. wise; having keen perception and sound judgmentsyn: shrewd; intelligent / ant: obtuse; fatuous

“Try not; do, or do not; there is no try,” said Yoda, a sagacious Jedi master, to Luke

Skywalker.

“Simply stated, it is sagacious to eschew obfuscation.”-Norman R. Augustine

#15 Rationalize : v. to make an excuse forsyn: justify

Unlike other primates, humans can rationalize their most bizarre behavior.

“Feelings are not supposed to be logical. Dangerous is the man who has rationalized his emotions.”-David Borenstein